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How Often Should You Change Your Sheets (and Other Linens)?

Last time I was visiting Nonna and Nonno, we somehow started talking about how often Nonna changes her sheets: every week. I thought that sounded excessive, so I decided to look into it. I won’t tell you how infrequently I was changing our sheets – ew! – but it turns out Nonna was right (who’s surprised, really?).

Experts say not only should you change your sheets once a week, you should also make sure to wash the mattress pad, too. Blankets, comforters and pillows can go a little longer, depending on other dirtiness factors. For instance, my cats sleep on my bed, so I like to wash the duvet cover when I wash the sheets to get the fur off.

This whole endeavor prompted me to look into other household linens, and I found out some interesting tidbits I thought I’d share:

Comforters or Duvets do not need washed if you use a duvet cover that gets laundered frequently (once a month at least), unless you spill something on it. You can refresh it by hanging it outside on a nice day 2-3 times a year.

Pillows should be washed twice a year, pillow covers once a month. How to wash pillows: Check the tag, if it’s still on the pillow. Generally, you can put them in the washing machine: use cold water and run them through the rinse cycle twice. Tumble dry on the low-heat or air dry setting, and add a couple of clean tennis balls to help keep the pillow stuffing from clumping. Also, you will get a lot more life out of your pillows by using pillow covers under the cases.

Bath towels should be washed every 3-5 days, and make sure to hang it up to completely dry in between uses. Bath mats or rugs should be washed once a week.

How often do you wash your sheets? Are you surprised at how often we’re supposed to wash linens?